Hmmm. It's an interesting idea. Unfortunately, we can't expect the nice folk at WCG to give special treatment to any team. They already do a great job when a real problem emerges, but they simply don't have time to deal with all the trivia. That's what we're for.

Fortunately, there are already teams that will go to any length to help their members (and members of other teams, too). My team, for example. A lot of the smaller teams are very supportive, too.

And you're right - PhDs can be bl**dy useless with computers! :-D

I've found that the best approach is to point people straight to the sign up page, but to reassure them that should anything go wrong, they should come to me, and I'll find the solution somehow. So far, I've had quite a good success rate....

Thanks for your replies, guys.

I can take it from bbover3's reply that people who are not computer savvy are welcome and I think that may be enough to tell my potential members as far as using the official Support service, so thank you.

Didactylos, I've taken on board what you said but I think I need to explain what I mean more clearly.

I am recruiting from a general cross-section of the population who use a computer as a simple entertainment tool. By the laws of chance some of these people may happen to be knowledgeable computer 'geeks' but most of them will not so they will need answers on a plate or not bother to join up.

I can't refer them to a particularly helpful member in the forums simply because I don't expect them to visit the forums at all. The helpful member is going to have to come to us. I do suggest to people to visit the forums but the reality of the matter is that non-pro-users can't be expected to find their way through this maze of information with the sole motivation of helping a charity – they simply won't bother to join up.

My plan is to invite 'unsophisticated' computer users to join an online group (on a photgraphy website) where they can find out about WCG. Their questions are going to be simple beginner concerns. For instance, one person asked me how this scheme would affect the safety of his computer – no doubt a community adviser would know immediately how to answer this question but I had to spend time trawling through the forums to try to find the information. If I have to spend time learning the details of how WCG operates I won't have time to recruit anyone at all.

I realise that a community adviser is likely to have a wealth of technical knowledge about advanced computer problems and specialist techniques so the simple questions of beginners may seem tedious and trivial. However if WCG is aiming to increase the computer power on the grid then discussing the intricacies of over-clocking and such with computer buffs is almost an irrelevance – a community adviser's time will net the grid far more computer power by offering basic reassurance to a large group of unsophisticated housewives and hairdressers.

The main benefit of having a resident community adviser is simply the reassurance it offers to people invited to join the group – in practice people may have no need to ask any questions whatsoever.

So far I have recruited only a small group of interested people. The potential number of members easily matches the size of the organisations that WCG feature on the front page. It's difficult to say how many people will have joined WCG by the end of the year but without the help of a community adviser it won't be more than double figures.

So it would make a huge difference if someone knowledgeable about WCG would join my photography forum. All that would be involved is logging on once a day or so to see if there are any questions. It's free to join so if anyone would like to take a look please let me know.

By the way 'housewives and hairdressers' was an exaggeration – my team includes research scientists and other professionals, they just don't know anything about WCG.

(Thanks also Retep57 for volunteering to help if need be)

Thanks, Didactylos, you've been very helpful. I'll give it some more thought – in the meantime I must admit I'm still hoping a budding photographer WCG expert will read this post

hey i would love to recruit others. i am having very limited success, i have only recruited 3 others since year dot :( i do have another likely candidate ) i would be happy to do the occasional msn messenger chat to help set someone up for ultrabasic stuff , ie click this link for wcg, then type name etc, or even do a remote assistance install / setup for them, would rather recruit for the team i am in of course LOL, but as per others in posts above it is the big picture that counts and i view teams as a bit of fun only and it is results that count, IMHO.. hmm i might even volunteer handy little links to our team.. hmm maybe the wiki's should be updated, i take the point of some people might be gamers or enteretainment mainly typr people but if we could do the setup for them or talk them thru they might come and help.. cheers.. , nice discussion btw

nb my email is in the footer here and also my homepage ( very modest page) , my email is also my msn messenger name so if someone temporarily asks for a quick walkthru i might consider it, or a happy hello from teamies or others with helpful or interesting info or who might benefit from my exceedinlg meager talents.. cheers